China stocks fell on Tuesday dragged by semiconductor shares, as investors awaited more signs of economic recovery in the world's second-largest economy, while Hong Kong shares gained.

** China's blue-chip CSI300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index both dropped 0.4% by the lunch break. Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng Index was up 0.5%.

** Semiconductor shares traded in the onshore market dropped 3.4%.

** China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom were little affected, after sources said the Biden administration is investigating those companies over concerns the firms could exploit access to American data through their U.S. cloud and internet businesses by providing it to Beijing.

** Investors are watching closely for China's May industrial profits due this Friday and its June manufacturing survey due on Sunday.

** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.38% at 2,951.95.

** China's blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.4%, with its financial sector sub-index higher by 0.02%, the consumer staples sector up 0.48%, the real estate index up 1.22% and the healthcare sub-index down 0.58%.

** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong rose 0.54% to 6,475.96, while the Hang Seng Index was up 0.45% at 18,109.20.

** The smaller Shenzhen index was down 0.36%, the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 1.35% and Shanghai's tech-focused STAR50 index was down 2.45% .

** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.32% while Japan's Nikkei index was up 0.64%.

** The yuan was quoted at 7.2596 per U.S. dollar, barely changed, compared to the previous close of 7.2598. (Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Rashmi Aich)